1981 Irish hunger strike

The 1981 Irish hunger strike was a major hunger strike undertaken by several Irish republican inmates at Maze Prison in County Down, Northern Ireland. The strike began in reaction to the British government's withdrawal of "Special Category Status" (prisoner-of-war status) from Provisional IRA prisoners, and Bobby Sands and several other imprisoned IRA members decided to starve themselves unto death to protest the new British policy. Sands was symbolically elected as a Member of Parliament on 9 April 1981 after the death of Frank Maguire, and he died of starvation on 5 May; nine other people died during the course of the strike. The strike radicalized Irish nationalist politics and made Sinn Fein a mainstream political party, increasing the popularity of Sinn Fein.